Commercial motorcycle business popularly known as “Okada” which started as a part time engagement is now considered a worthy business by the operators. With a motorcycle rider delivering between N2, 000 and N4, 000 daily, the Okada business generates at least a tangible amount of money daily. ADEOLA TUKURU reports.
Reports have it that commercial motorcycle business contributes to the economy of those engaged in the sector and by extension the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
The use of motorcycles for commercial purpose had been on in some parts of the country as a popular means of commercial transportation across the country was in response to the hard times .
That means the economic growth cannot support the burgeoning population growth rate. In addition, Nigeria turns out about 1.5million tertiary institution graduates annually without any plan to gainfully engage them after school.
Many of them after embarking on job hunting for a number of years are frustrated and are willing to take up any job, including riding Okada, just to keep body and soul together.
For Rasheed Oyekanmi, a University graduate had high expectations after his graduation from the university but after years of job hunting, his hope for a better life was dashed, he became disillusioned but rather than engaging in crime, he resorted to riding Okada to eke out a living.
According to him, after five years of job searching, “I decided to take up the Okada job. It is with it, I cater for myself, wife and son. So, if a better job comes, it’s welcome and if it does not, I am contented with this.
Easy money
Many people; young and old, educated and unlettered are easily lured into joining the Okada business because of the ease with which money is made.
According to the chairman of ACOMORAN, River Park Branch, Abuja, Muhammad Bello, many people join the association because Okada riding is a business that fetches the operators quick money to take care of their immediate needs.
He said an Okada rider makes between N13, 000 and N15, 000 every week, and this has helped in no small measures to conveniently pay their children’s school fees, sponsor their siblings and go into farming.
Another branch chairman in the Federal Capital Territory, Maniru Lawal, who vowed never to leave the work for another business, with determination, an Okada rider can make about N100, 000 in a month.
According to him, “I have spent about 16 years in this Abuja and Okada has been my source of income. This is a business from which I can get up to N100, 000 in a month. If I borrow money from someone, I can assure the person that within one month, I will pay back.”
The advent of okada
The advent of okada in the national transportation system started in the early eighties, their operation has grown tremendously to a force that could be reckoned with.
The names were usually a reflection of what the motorcycle transportation represents. In Cross River/Akwa-Ibom axis, it was nicknamed “akauke” meaning “are you going .” In Ibo land, it was nicknamed “Ina-aga,” meaning, “are you going.”
These names clearly illustrate the fact that once the traveler was ready, the motorcycles were also ready to convey the passengers to their destinations in no time. In Yoruba land it was called “tatakpukpu”, an onomatopoeia representing the sound of the motorcycle.
To the Edo State indigenes, Okada Air, represented the fastest means of traveling from Benin to Lagos, just as the motorcycle was the fastest means of traveling between any two points.
It was for this simple reason that the Edos nicknamed the motorcycle mode of transport okada. Out of all the nick-names mentioned above, only okada seemed to have survived and has come to be accepted generally in Nigeria as the official nickname for commercial motorcycle operation.
Easy movement
One of the features of living in urban centres is the endemic traffic gridlock in which residents on a daily basis lose productive man-hours and business appointments.
To aid fast movement and journey through gullies and potholes on city roads, many residents ride on Okada not minding the drain it causes in their purse.
Environmental factors
Environmental factors have also contributed to the rising interest of Nigerians in Okada business. The shrinking size of Lake Chad and extended dry season has made cattle rearing and farming in the northern part of Nigeria less lucrative than they used to be. Therefore, many youths from the North migrate down South to become Okada riders.
Easy acquisition
It is a bit easy to acquire a motorcycle for commercial purposes for those who are determined and are willing to take the risk. Usually, there are dealers who are ready to give out the motorcycles on hire purchase agreement to the riders who either pay weekly or monthly installments.
Checks revealed that most of those who get the motorcycles on hire purchase arrangement usually pay back within 18 months.
Quite a number of politicians who embark on poverty alleviation programmes often give out motorcycles to beneficiaries of their gesture. Such gestures have helped many people to become Okada riders.
Downsides
However, despite being an avenue for young and unemployed Nigerians to eke out a living, Okada riding is not without its downsides.
High accident rate
According to Micah and Owagbemi, commercial motorcycles have a higher rate of crippling and fatal accidents per unit distance than cars and buses. They add that, “A 1998 study at the Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, showed that injuries to limb occurred in 79.3 per cent of patients who reported at the emergency department of the hospital. These patients were linked to commercial motorcycle accidents.”
Reduction of the stock of artisans
With many artisans abandoning their trade to seek easy money from Okada riding, a critical sector of the economy is being endangered. A number of companies are finding it difficult to employ artisans who are critical to their production. Not only does this hamper the progress of the companies, it also affects the growth of the economy.
Checks further revealed that artisans such as tilers and masons are brought into the country from the neighbouring countries. The implication of this is that while Nigerians are complaining of unemployment, the available ones are being given out to foreign nationals.
Insecurity
Insecurity has escalated with the rise in the use of motorcycles for commercial purposes. When insurgency broke out in the North, motorcycles were used by the insurgents to carry out their attacks. Quite a number of state governments have banned the use of Okada in city centres because of the threat they pose to the security of the people. In many estates in the country, Okada riders are not allowed because they are seen as a means through which vices are perpetrated.
Things you should know before venturing into motorcycle business
1. You must check the strength and the quality of the motorcycle you want to buy because it is not all motorcycle you can use for the business, the quality of the motorcycle determine to a large extent how much you will be taking home.
2. What is the fuel consumption rate: the fuel consumption rate of the motorcycle should be put into consideration too,
3. State Policy: check maybe the state in which you live allow motorcycle business. You will agree with me that not all the states in Nigeria allow motorcycle business for example Lagos state.
4. Integrity check: you should ensure that whoever you’ll be giving it to to help you drive must be somebody that is trust worthy that is if you don’t want to be you don’t want to ride it yourself this is very important because most of the people that collect people’s motorcycle at the end of the day use it anyhow they like so as somebody who is going into this business you have to be very careful in this regard.
